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2007 Supreme(Mad) 4284
High Court of Judicature at Madras
THE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE P.K. MISRA & THE HONOURABLE MRS. JUSTICE R. BANUMATHI
R. Parthasarathy
Versus
The State of Tamil Nadu, rep. by the Secretary to the Government & Others
Writ Petition Nos.21416 of 2007 to 21420 Of 2007
Decided On : 20-12-2007
For the Petitioner:T.V. Ramanujan, Senior Counsel, T.V. Krishnamachari, Advocate. For the Respondents:R1 to R3, Hazan Fizal, Govt. Advocate, R4, Sriram Panchu, Senior Counsel, T. Mohan & S. Devika, Advocate.
The main legal point established in the judgment is the importance of registered societies, the process of amending bye-laws, and the power of the Government to grant exemptions under the Societies Registration Act.
Headnote:
Societies Registration Act - Music Academy - 1860, 1975 - 12, 15, 27, 34, 54 - The court discussed the provisions of the Societies Registration Act, 1860 and the Tamil Nadu Societies Registration Act, 1975, focusing on the amendment of memorandum and bye-laws, the management of a society, and the power of the Government to exempt societies from certain provisions. The court emphasized the importance of registered societies, the process of amending bye-laws, and the power of the Government to grant exemptions.
Fact of the Case:
The dispute involved the Music Academy, a society registered under the Societies Registration Act, 1860. The petitioner filed writ petitions to challenge Government Orders related to the registration and amendment of bye-laws of the Music Academy. The main contentions raised were related to the validity of the amendments and the impact of the Government Orders on the Society.
Finding of the Court:
The court found that the amendments to the bye-laws had been filed and taken on record, and the Government Orders were passed in accordance with the sentiments expressed in the earlier round of litigations. The court dismissed the writ petitions, stating that the petitioner had no justification to raise old controversies and that the proposed amendments to the bye-laws were made to remove provisions contrary to the Act or the Rules.
Issues: The main issues raised were the validity of the amendments to the bye-laws, the impact of the Government Orders on the Society, and the justification for the petitioner to challenge the matters that occurred before becoming a member of the Society.
Ratio Decidendi: The court emphasized that the amendments to the bye-laws had been filed and taken on record, and the Government Orders were passed in accordance with the sentiments expressed in the earlier round of litigations. The court also highlighted that the proposed amendments to the bye-laws were made to remove provisions contrary to the Act or the Rules.
Final Decision: The court dismissed all the writ petitions and closed the connected miscellaneous petitions, stating that there was no merit in the challenges raised by the petitioner.
Common Judgment (P.K. Misra, J.)
These five writ petitions have been filed by the same petitioner against the same respondents for quashing five different Government Orders. All the writ petitions were heard together and raise some common factual and legal disputes and, therefore, all these writ petitions are disposed of by this common judgment.
2. The dispute relates to affairs of the "Music Academy", which was registered as a Society under the Societies Registration Act, 1860 (hereinafter referred to as "the old Act") on 28. 1929. The seemingly never ending controversy had come to the High Court in an earlier round of litigations wherein several writ petitions had been filed including W.P.No.17341 of 2003 filed by the present writ petitioner. All such writ petitions and the connected writ appeal were disposed of by a common judgment dated 29. 2005. (Judgment is reported in 2005-4-L.W.67). Some of the conclusions in the aforesaid judgment, relevant for the present matters, are extracted hereunder :-
"45. In the light of the aforesaid discussions and in the interest of justice and more particularly in the larger interest of the Music Academy, our conclusions and directions are as follows :-
(i) As per the provisions contained in the Act, management of a Society has to vest in a Governing body or a Managing Committee consisting of elected members and the term of such elected members cannot exceed three years. Therefore, there is no question of any bye-law providing term of six years for any Trustee.
(ii) As per the provisions of the Act, the Governing Body/Committee can consist of only elected members. Therefore, the question of having any nominated Trustee in the Governing Body/Committee cannot arise, as any such provision would be contrary to the provisions of the Act. The Trustees are also required to be elected.
(iii) Show cause notice has been issued primarily for the purpose of superseding the Committee. As submitted by most of the Counsels, including the learned Additional Advocate General, most of the troubles afflicting the Music Academy can be set right by holding a election for the Committee.
...
(xi) The restriction imposed in 1989 bye-law to the effect that a member in order to be eligible to contest must be a member for three years would not be applicable.
(xii) The election shall be for the following Office bearers :-
(1) one President (2) Four Vice-Presidents (3)Two Trustees (4) Four Joint Secretaries
(5) one Treasurer, and (5) Twelve other members. No subordinate court shall entertain any pre-election dispute."
3. It is not in dispute that pursuant to the observations and directions contained in the said decision, an election was successfully held under the guidance and control of Justice K.P. Sivasubramaniam, retired Judge, who had been nominated as Observer, and the elected Office-bearers have subsequently taken charge. So far so good. Some controversies, mostly avoidable, still persist.
4. W.P.No.21416 of 2007 is filed for quashing G.O.Rt.No.362, Commercial Taxes and Registration (M1) Department, dated 14. 2006. The English translation of said G.O., (as furnished by the counsel for the Music Academy) is to the following effect :-
"Orders are issued amending the G.O. in the 2nd reference cited above, on the basis of the report of the IG Registration in the 3rd reference cited hereunder, as hereunder:
2. In pursuance of the judgment of the High Court, Madras in WA.1078/03 dated 29. 2005, elections were held to the Executive Committee of the Music Academy, Madras. Office bearers of the Society were duly elected. It was further observed in the judgment that though amendments to the Societys bye-laws had been effected in 1979, they had not been registered under Section 12(3). On that basis, the IG (Registration) had communicated his views by his letter in the 1st reference cited above. On examining his views and on that basis, since it was informed that there was delay in filing he resolutions amendin
